“Whoa,” Jess says, grabbing me to steady herself. “That is the weirdest feeling.”
“Yes, it takes some getting used to.” I smile at her and sit heavily on the sofa. “Go and find Scott and then go outside. Make the most of the night.” She smiles and nods. I add, “Oh, and if you try to leave the perimeter of the grounds, you will be turned to ash on the spot. So, don’t try.” She pales and gulps. “I wasn’t planning to,” she mumbles, and I raise my eyebrow. Does she think I came down with the last shower of rain? “Go now,” I order her, and she does.
“I need blood,” I tell CK and he goes off to get me some, returning shortly with a glass and Cole in tow.
“You’re back,” he says and leans down to kiss me. “Everything okay? You’re looking pale.” He sits next to me in concern.
“I’m hungry,” I say as I accept the glass and gulp it down. “Very hungry.”
“I will get you someone,” CK says and pulls out his phone, clearly concerned.
“I feel weak,” I mutter to Cole.
He pulls me to him in an instant. “What’s wrong?” he says.
“I don’t know.” I breathe in deeply and try to focus. I feel better once I do this and smile at my husb… at Cole. “I’m fine. Really. I just think it has been too long since I fed.”
“Aefre, I told you to take care,” CK admonishes me softly. “Do you need someone to… you know, do what you said?” he asks hesitantly.
What did I say I wanted someone to do? Then I remember the bad joke from a couple of days ago and shake my head. “No. That was a joke, CK. I don’t need someone to follow me around.”
“I disagree. You are not looking after yourself. I have tried to help you but with all of this flitting about, it is getting increasingly difficult to keep up with your needs.” He sighs and says, “Nico can arrange it. Just say the word.”
I stare at him, horrified. Nico can arrange it? He can arrange to have a human follow me around for me to snack on whenever the feeling comes upon me?
We are interrupted by Xane, thankfully, as I now don’t have to deal with that conversation. “The spell you asked me to put up is set. If she tries to escape, she’s toast. I trust you warned her?” Xane says.
I nod. “Of course.”
“With regard to your feeding problem, it is only a problem because you aren’t doing it right,” he says idly, coming to kneel in front of me. He holds out his hands. “Feed,” he says.
“She needs human blood,” CK growls as Cole lets out a low rumble of his own.
“Not blood. Energy,” Xane says. “Remember what your mother told you. Showed you. It’s right in front of you, Liv.”
He’s right, of course. I had forgotten in all the upset over Jess waking and ensuing events. All this time I could have been feeding willy nilly off just about everybody.
“Feed,” he says again.
I put my hands up to his, a couple of centimeters apart.
He shakes his head at me. “Properly,” he says and grasps mine tightly to his. “Page one. The very first thing we learn.”
I sense the tension coming off CK and Cole as they are clueless as to what he is talking about and that I am engaging in some sort of Demonic act.
“You have been weakening the spell by trying to put a positive spin on it. Don’t. Use it as it was intended,” he says to me as he stands and pulls me up with him. “Do it,” he orders me.
I blink at him, recalling the spell I used on my mother and Sebastian. It is also the same one that I used to clean up Jess’s blood. I did try to twist it to make it less dark but he’s right, it weakened it. This is who I am. The swirly wind circles us, flicking my hair into my face. I see him smile in encouragement and I grip his hands tighter, pushing him back a few steps to gain more room. I hear the protest from my sire and my charge, but I ignore them. I pull on his energy, feeling it leave him and enter me, easing all the hunger, all the confusion. Making me stronger. This is me. I am ValamAtrux, Dragon Queen, to be feared and respected not treated like a weak child. This is who I am, I think again. Powerful.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-NINE
I pull away from Xane and spin to face two of my lovers, feeling the change come over me, starting with my eyes. I want them all to see it. I want them all to know who they are dealing with. I turn and kick off my shoes. I run outside to the terrace, pleased to see that everyone has gathered to see what the brewing storm is all about. The magickal wind increases, growing stronger as I get stronger. I’m about to Shift into my Dragon form and I couldn’t feel more alive.
The three houses all have a shadow cast over them so anyone who happens to be looking in would only ever see an empty garden. We are free to come and go and do as we please without fear of being caught, so I am happy to Shift right here and show everyone who I truly am. I feel the wings sprout from my back, an extension of my marking. They are virtual to start with but as I drop to my hands and knees, they gain form and the rest of me follows suit, until I am standing at a height of at least thirty feet. Smaller than my mother, but almost identical. I feel the black crystal-like scales rippling along my flanks and I shake my head. All my thoughts are coherent, exactly the same as normal and I can see everyone gaping up at me and stepping back, giving me room.
Everybody except Lincoln, that is, who is like my Dragon Whisperer. He is looking at me with pride and love. I duck my head to him. He nods back knowing instinctively what I’m doing and why. I tilt my head back and let out an ear-splitting screech to end all screeches, followed by a stream of fire that licks the air in a high arc. Couldn’t say for sure if sound goes through the shadow cover but I am beyond caring now. I want to fly.
I stare upwards, as does everyone else, when a large maw rips through the sky, flashing orange and black. I have no idea where it came from, but judging by the color, I would have to say it leads to the Underworld. I lift off with another shriek and fly straight at it, hearing the warning cries of my loved ones beneath me. Massive wings flapping, beating up and down, I fly through the rip and it closes up behind me.